


A Plate of Rice

by Dixxy



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Stolen Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-15
Updated: 2017-08-15
Packaged: 2018-12-15 13:21:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11806812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dixxy/pseuds/Dixxy
Summary: (Originally written in 2009, updated for 2017).Sanji x Nami. Pre-series. Five years before meeting Monkey D. Luffy, Nami runs out of food on her way to rob a pirate restaurant.





	A Plate of Rice

Nami had heard about the floating pirate restaurant some time ago during her travels across the East Blue. It was run by a former pirate – Red Leg Zeff, a man who had survived the Grand Line but lost his infamous leg in some kind of accident. It was supposedly filled with an unruly clientele that fought with the cooks and made the entire place a spectacle to behold. Customers would pour in from all over the sea just to enjoy pirates try to take down the staff, all while eating what was supposed to be some of the best food money could buy.

Naturally a pit like that sounded like the perfect place to hit.

It had taken a while for her to find the place, though – she was a good navigator, but her little boat didn't go very fast and there wasn't a lot of wind that week. She ran out of food about a day or two earlier, so she was probably going to have to grab something to eat as well.  By the time she arrived her stomach was angry and her concentration was non-existent. She stumbled out of her boat and teetered onto the deck of the ship, dazed as she looked around for something to steal.

_So...hungry..._

Nami decided the best way to go was the back. She didn't need anything special, just some fresh fruit or vegetables to get her wits about her. Those would be the easiest targets. Definitely. She wandered around towards what seemed like the back of the ship, where she saw several crates, some of them with the tops popped off. The scent of fresh apples drifted towards her, and she started to drool. Her stomach growled again, and she began to make her way towards the food.

_Food...FOOD..._

The thief reached a crate and looked inside. Apples...so many delicious apples! McIntosh, galas, braeburns, elstars, all sorts of tasty, juicy, apples! Greedily, hungrily, Nami reached for one before she heard a bellow from behind.

"HEY! YOU!"

Nami yelped in panic and bolted towards the nearest hiding place - an open door leading into what looked like a storage room. She dove behind a mountain of potato sacks and stayed quiet. She looked at her hands, silently cursing her lack of food. She hadn't managed to grab an apple before someone spotted her. She was hit with another dizzy spell and held back a groan. She was  _so hungry_. 

She looked at the potato sacks before her. Raw potatoes weren't exactly the best tasting food in the world, but they were  _food_. She started to fumble around, looking for an opening to one of the sacks. Nami smiled as she found one and hastily pulled at it, only to hear a frightening shift in the pile as the sacks all began to collapse in towards her. She let out of a scream in fright, bracing herself for the hit, and covered her face with her hands.

"HEY!"

Nami was unceremoniously yanked away from the falling potato sacks by the owner of the voice that had yelled at her, now holding her up by the collar of her shirt and staring at her angrily. He was a big man with big arms, and he was  _pissed._

_"_ Just what do you think you're doing back here!?" he yelled.

Nami swallowed. Normally, on a full stomach, she could talk her way out of anything. But she was so hungry that she couldn't. "Um..."

"Don't you EVER try to steal from our restaurant again, you lousy brat! This is the Baratie, you damn crook!" the big man bellowed as he dragged her out of the storage room and back to where her boat was moored. They were moving quickly away from the food, all the while Nami's stomach screaming for something,  _anything_. 

Realizing she had only one option left, Nami tried to turn on the water works, but even  _that_ was difficult when she was this hungry. "P, please...I'm...hungry..."

"AND STAY OUT!" he bellowed, dropping her into her boat before storming away back towards the storage area. She whimpered, hungry and tired and frustrated that this job had gone badly. She looked at the closed front door, agonizing as she heard sounds of laughter inside as the paying patrons ate their fill. They were pirates! Mean, nasty pirates who probably had a lot of money they were going to waste on booze or something when she could use it to buy back her village and save everyone from Arlong!

"I'm sorry Patty kicked you out...you must be really hungry," said a cracking voice from nearby.

Nami turned her head to see a boy a little older than her in an oversized cook's uniform standing behind her with a glass of milk and a plate of fried rice. He sat down on and the deck and pushed the meal over to her with a smile on his pimply face. "Patty kicks a lot of hungry people out but it's wrong to let people starve, even if they don't have any money. You look hungry – eat up!"

Nami looked down at the plate and her stomach grumbled. She turned around to face the boy, unsure if she was willing to trust him or the food. He was still looking at her expectantly, waiting for her to dig in. "Come on – it's really good! I made it myself. The stupid old man won't admit it but it's the best I've ever made!"

"You made this?" she said.

"Yeah! Come on, eat it! Starving yourself is stupid," he said.

"I'm not stupid – how do I know this isn't poisoned?" she said.

The boy laughed. "If we poisoned the food we wouldn't have any customers left, would we?" But, sensing her hesitation, he grabbed the fork, stirred the fried rice around, and then ate a mouthful. He washed it down with a drink of milk. "See? I'm okay!"

"Now your germs are all over it."

"I don't have any germs!"

Nami's stomach grumbled. Screw it. She jumped out of the boat and sat on the deck beside the boy, took the fork and started to eat. She paused after the first bite. It tasted AMAZING! Maybe it was because she was hungry, or maybe it was because this poor victim of puberty was actually a good cook, but it was delicious! "This is really good!" she said, starting to shovel the food into her mouth.

"Hey, slow down a little – you'll choke if you aren't careful!"

Nami shook her head, washing down the rice with the milk. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Thank you! That was great!" she said. "I haven't eaten in a couple of days! I was starving!" She sat back up again and grinned. "So you gave that to me for free, right?"

The boy chewed on his bottom lip. "Yeah."

Nami grinned. She liked getting things for free. The less she had to pay for, the more money she had to bury in the tangerine grove to buy back the village. "So, why were you so nice to me when that Patty guy was so mean?" she asked around another mouthful. She was hungry – she didn't care if it was rude or whatever to talk with your mouthful.

"Because making people starve is wrong," said the boy, looking out at the water. He had a faraway, distant look in his one visible eye. Much to her surprise he reached into his apron pocket, producing a pack of cigarettes and a pack of matches. Nami wordlessly continued to eat as he stuck one of the white sticks in his mouth and lit it. "It doesn't matter if you have a billion berries or no berries – everyone has the right to a full stomach."

Nami finished the rice and pushed the empty plate away – not a grain of rice was left. She sighed. Normally, this was where she would partake in step two of the Dine and Dash method of eating out, but she frowned when she looked at the boy sitting there with his cigarette. Nami pushed the plate aside and crawled to sit next to him.

They sat there in silence for a few moments.

Nami finally stood up and started walking towards her boat. The boy stood and walked beside her. "Need help getting into your boat?" He jumped down into the boat and offered her a hand to help her in. Nami blinked at him in surprise, but took his hand and accepted the assistance into her boat. He jumped back onto the deck, squatting and snuffing out his cigarette. "All set?"

Nami nodded, stepping forward. "Thank you again!" she said. Then, getting a smart idea, she leaned in and gently kissed him on the lips. She opened her eyes when he pulled away, staring at her in wide eyed shock. The thief laughed, cutting off the rope tying her to the Baratie and waving good-bye. "Bye, bye!"

* * *

Sanji watched the mysterious orange haired girl sail off, dumbly waving as he watched her and her boat get tinier and tinier as it neared the horizon line. He'd understood why Patty had kicked her out – she'd tried to rob the Baratie, which was an understandable reason to be upset. But she was still hungry and, thief or no thief, he had to make sure she was fed.

The young cook blushed. She hadn't actual stolen any of their food, but she had stolen his first kiss.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, so this is actually a pretty old piece that I spruced up a bit for A03. It's just some cute fluff between Sanji and Nami several years before they met Luffy and the other Straw Hats. Hope you guys liked it :)


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